It's hard to pick up a newspaper or magazine and not see an article about cognitive systems, big data, artificial intelligence, machine learning, intelligent robots, et al. Do I understand what it all means? The benefits? The downside? No. But I hope to learn a lot by listening to Dr. John Kelly of IBM when he speaks at KentPresents 2016. Dr. Kelly is SVP of IBM, and his responsibilities include IBM Research and IBM Watson. From defeating the world chess champion to helping physicians conquer cancer, Watson is one of the most advanced cognitive systems in the world, one that is rapidly moving from a research wonder to a real-world solver of our most complex problems. The theme of KentPresents is What Comes Next. IBM Watson may well be what comes next.

Dr. John Kelly is senior vice president, Solutions Portfolio and Research for IBM. He is focused on the company's investments in several of the fastest-growing and most strategic parts of the information technology market, including IBM Analytics, IBM Commerce, IBM Security and IBM Watson, as well as IBM Research and the company's Intellectual Property team. He also oversees the development of units devoted to serving clients in specific industries, beginning with the April 2015 launch of IBM Watson Health.

Dr. Kelly holds a Bachelor of Science in physics from Union College, and a Master of Science in physics and a Doctorate in materials engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He has also received three honorary Doctoral degrees.